Eleazee kempshall



(No Model.)

. E. KEMPSHALL.

BUTTON FASTENER. No. 314,684. I Patented Marya, 188 5.

(7 0 W a M Unites States ELEAZER KEMPSHALL, OF NEIV BRITAIN,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY

MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE AMERICAN BUTTON FASTENER COM- PANY, OF SAMEPLACE.

BUTTON- FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,68 dated March 31,1885.

A pplieation filed December 17, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, ELEAZER KEMPSHALL, a citizen of the United States,residing atNew Britain, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inButton-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in sheet-metal button-fasteners ofa form which is adapted for sale before being bent; and the object of myinvention is to produce a sheetmetal button fastener which is strong anddurable, comfortable to the wearer, and inexpensive to make. I attainthis object by the construction illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is a side view of my fastener as pre paredready for the market. Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof. Fig. 3 is asideview of the same with a button attached and apiece of leather or othermaterial. Fig. 4 is an edge View of the same; and Fig. 5 is another sideview ofmy button-fastener ready for market, and differing slightly inform from the fasteners shown in the preceding figures.

All of the figures are on an enlarged scale.

My button-fastener is intended to be sold to shoe-dealers and othersinits uubent form, and to be bent by means of proper tools, special orotherwise, when it is desired to fasten the buttons to the article onwhich they are to be used. In practice the prong will enter the leatherwhile it is in the same plane with the base, and be subsequentlyclinched or bent. I form my fastener substantially in a T-shaped form bycutting it from sheet metal, with suitable dies, as a finished article.The cross-bar of the T forms the head-bar or base a of the fastener, andthe upright portion of the T forms the fastening prong or hook I). Thestyle represented in Figs. 1 to at, inclusive, is particularly adaptedto have its fastening prong or hook bent edgewise with the metal, asshown in Figs. 3 and at, and for this reason the fastening'prong Z) ismade to project from the head-bar a at a point a little to one side ofthe middle of the length of said head-bar, so that when the prong b isbent into a hook or eye it will bring the button-eye so that it willstand at about the middle of the length ofsaid head-bar, as shown inFig. 3. The prong b is made either small enough or sharp enough so thatit will readily puncture the leather or other material to which thebutton is to be applied. The head bar a is made quite narrow, as shown,and with its ends rounded. Its inner edge is especially adapted forabearing-surfaee, and with this object in view I curve the ends thereofso as to project upon the inside or bearing-edge. I have described theseends as rounded,although they have what may be termedinwardly-projecting points. \Vhenever the headbar has anything in thenature of points or projections at or near the ends of said bars, theymust be so disposed with reference to the bearing-edge as to either lieclose to the material to which the fastener is applied, or else beembedded therein, as shown in Fig. 3.

In applying the fastener the prong I) only will be bent, and the unbentheadbar will rest edgewise, with itsinside edge embedded in the innersurface of the material to which the button and fastener are applied.This fastener is intended to be applied by means of a special toolsimilar in its general construction to those now in use.

The fastener is inserted with the tool ap plied at the proper point, andthe handles of the tool forced together sufiieiently to force the prongI) through the material. The button-eye can then be slipped over theprong, and the operation of the tool continued to force the end of theprong into a proper die and bend it edgewise to form ahook or eye tosecure the button, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:. In some cases it maybedesirable to bend the prong sidewise instead of edgewise. Fig. 5represents a fastener specially adapted to be so bent, and in whichfigure b designates the prong for the fastening-hook, and a the headbar.This prong I prefer to make as projecting from the middle of thehead-bar, as shown in Fig. 5. It may be applied by means ofa specialtool, substantially such as before mentioned, except that it bends theprong to one side.

In both of the forms herein represented the headbar and prong areintegral and in one plane. They are also adapted to punctureand enterthe material while they are thus in one plane, and have the prongsubsequently bent.

ridge, it projects inward but slightly, while,

the points or projections near the ends of the head-bar can never standout from the inner surface of the fabric, and the fasteners thus 1applied can never come into unpleasant contact with the wearer or catchupon his clothmg.

The single claim in this application is in tended as a generic one tocover both of the forms herein described, while the case is divided byfiling a new application with a specific and narrower claim for theparticular form of the fastener whose prong is a little to one side ofthe middle of the head, and herein described as intended to be bentedgewise, the same being illustrated in Figs. 1 ma, inclusive.

I am aware that prior patents show Various button-fasteners made ofsheet metal, and one of'thein shows a T-shaped blank having its threeends sharpened. Such fasteners are hereby disclaimed.- In all priorsheet-metal fasteners having a'puncturing-prong cutby dies from a singlepiece of metal, so far as I know, the head or head-bar has always beenadapted to lie with its fiat side against the inner surface of thematerial to which the fastener is applied.

instead of its flat side resting against the inner surface of thematerial to which it is applied.

I believe myself to be the first inventor of a sheet-metalbutton-fastener having apuncturing-prong and base, whose head is adaptedto rest edgewise against the material to which the button is fastened.Fig. 4 of the drawings of my patent ofJuly 1, 1884, No. 301,450, shows ablank for making one form of the button-fastener therein patented; butmy present invention is of an earlier date, and was completed prior tothe filing of the application for said patent, and also prior to makingthe invention which forms the subject-matter of said patent of July 1.,1884.

I claim as my invention- A sheet-metal button-fastener consisting of anarrow head or base having an edgewise bearing-surface, and an integralpuncturingprong projecting from said bearing surface and in the sameplane with the head or base, the whole being adapted to be struck from asheet of metal in its finished form, substantially as described, and forthepurposes specified.

ELEAZER KEMPSH ALL.

Witnesses:

J AMES SHEPARD, EDDY N. SMITH.

